Atlanta rapper Young Thug, whose legal name is Jeffery Williams, faced eight criminal charges in Fulton County, Georgia, led by a conspiracy count under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Prosecutors alleged he co-founded a street gang called Young Slime Life and ran it as a racketeering enterprise tied to drugs, guns, and violence. The case ended in October 2024, when Williams pleaded guilty and no contest to several counts and was sentenced to 15 years of probation after more than two years in jail awaiting trial.
The Eight Counts Against Him
Williams was named in an 88-page indictment alongside 27 co-defendants.1Courthouse News Service. Fulton County Superior Court – Indictment of Jeffery Williams et al. His individual counts were:
- Conspiracy to violate the Georgia RICO Act, alleging he participated in and directed a pattern of criminal activity through YSL.1Courthouse News Service. Fulton County Superior Court – Indictment of Jeffery Williams et al.
- Two counts of participation in criminal street gang activity, targeting his alleged role within YSL.1Courthouse News Service. Fulton County Superior Court – Indictment of Jeffery Williams et al.
- Three counts of violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, covering possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of codeine with intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine.1Courthouse News Service. Fulton County Superior Court – Indictment of Jeffery Williams et al.
- Possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.1Courthouse News Service. Fulton County Superior Court – Indictment of Jeffery Williams et al.
- Possession of a machine gun.
The drug and firearm counts were added after police searched Williams’ residence. The RICO conspiracy count was the centerpiece, tying those offenses together as parts of a broader pattern rather than isolated incidents.
Why the RICO Charge Carried So Much Weight
Georgia’s RICO statute makes it illegal to participate in an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, or to conspire to do so.2Justia. Georgia Code 16-14-4 – Prohibited Activities It is widely considered broader than the federal version, with lower requirements for both the “pattern” and “enterprise” elements. Prosecutors only need to prove two connected predicate acts beyond a reasonable doubt, not every act listed in an indictment, and more than 40 offenses qualify as predicates, from drug crimes to weapons offenses to witness intimidation.
A conviction under the Georgia RICO Act carries five to twenty years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000, or three times any financial gain from the criminal activity. That exposure is why the charge dominated plea negotiations and why Williams was facing the real prospect of decades behind bars if the case went the wrong way at trial.
Williams was arrested in May 2022 and held without bond. The trial that followed became the longest criminal trial in Georgia’s history.
How the Case Ended
In October 2024, Williams changed his plea to guilty and no contest on several of the gang, gun, and drug counts. The deal spared him any additional prison time beyond the roughly two and a half years he had already served awaiting trial.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker sentenced him to 15 years of probation. If he completes probation successfully, the remainder of his sentence will be commuted to time served. If he violates the terms, he faces at least 20 years in prison. That threat is what gives the conditions their force.
The Probation Conditions
The terms of Williams’ probation go well beyond a standard order:
- Banishment from metro Atlanta for 10 years, with narrow exceptions for family weddings, funerals, graduations, medical emergencies, and community service.
- 100 hours of community service each year for 15 years.
- Four anti-gang and anti-gun-violence presentations per year in the metro Atlanta area.
- No firearms.
- No gang signs, real or suspected.
- No promoting gangs or gang culture in any form.
- No contact with gang members or YSL affiliates, with exceptions only for his brother Quantavious Grier and rapper Gunna.
The banishment provision is the unusual one. Williams grew up in Atlanta and built his career there, but the court concluded that separating him from the city’s gang networks was necessary for public safety and for his own chances of staying out of trouble. He can still enter the metro area to perform his required anti-violence presentations, so the city he is barred from is also the city he must visit regularly to satisfy his sentence.
Where the Co-Defendants Landed
Outcomes across the 28-person indictment varied. Gunna (Sergio Kitchens) entered an Alford plea in December 2022, a plea that accepts conviction while maintaining innocence. He was initially sentenced to five years, but the judge commuted the sentence to time served and suspended the balance, with 500 hours of community service. He was released the same day.
Yak Gotti (Deamonte Kendrick) went to trial and was found not guilty on all charges, including murder and gun counts. Shannon Stillwell, who also went to trial, was acquitted on most charges but convicted on one count of felony gun possession and sentenced to 10 years of probation. The last remaining defendant reached a plea agreement in 2025, closing a case that had run through the Fulton County courts for more than three years.